Teenage DirtBag
by Bemac
Summary: AU: Prompted by the song 'Teenage DirtBag' by Wheatus. A typical high school setting with typical high school cliques. Love-struck Peeta is separated by the social divide from the captivating new girl, Katniss. Rated M for mature for occasional bad language and teenage partying.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A short story based off the song, 'Teenage Dirt-Bag' by Wheatus. The song was one the songs that I think of as a 'theme song of my high school days'. **

**The song won't be sung out in any love-lorn ballad, rather there will little phrases cut out from the song placed here and there. For those unfamiliar with the song I placed the lyrics directly below in italics. Please feel free to skip over this to the story if you so wish.**

**I hope you enjoy the story. I own nothing by way of rights to Hunger Games or the song Teenage Dirt-Bag.**

* * *

_Her name is Noel_  
_I have a dream about her_  
_She rings my bell_  
_I got gym class in half an hour_  
_Oh, how she rocks_  
_In Keds and tube socks_  
_But she doesn't know who I am_  
_And she doesn't give a damn about me_

_'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby_  
_Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby_  
_Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me_

_Her boyfriend's a dick_  
_And he brings a gun to school_  
_And he'd simply kick_  
_My ass if he knew the truth_  
_He lives on my block_  
_And he drives an IROC_  
_But he doesn't know who I am_  
_And he doesn't give a damn about me_

_'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby_  
_Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby_  
_Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me_

_Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'_  
_Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'_

_Man, I feel like mold_  
_It's prom night and I am lonely_  
_Low and behold_  
_She's walking over to me_  
_This must be fake_  
_My lip starts to shake_  
_How does she know who I am?_  
_And why does she give a damn about me_

_I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby_  
_Come with me Friday, don't say "maybe"_  
_I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you_

_Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'_  
_Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missin'_

* * *

"Think of it as a fresh start, Katniss," Her Mother said with a strained smile, "You can become a whole new person."

The daughter didn't respond. Her step-father had gotten a new job in a new city and they were moving, she was leaving all her old friends behind.

"We can go shopping at the best stores and pick you out a whole new wardrobe, won't that be fun?"

Katniss still didn't respond, she had heard this before, the new job was in a bigger city and at a much bigger hospital than what her step-father had been at previously, this, as her Mother had frequently reminded her, meant that he'd earn more. This did little to help the situation in reality because, as far as she was concerned, her step-father made more than enough money already, but her Mother kept bringing it up.

"_And_," her Mother started, the girl knew what was coming next, she'd heard her Mother's argument countless times in the past few weeks, "Don't forget what Seneca said, if you do well and get good grades you'll get to pick out a car for your birthday… which ever car you want, Katniss."

Katniss looked over at her Mother and said in a monotone voice, "Whoopee."

Her Mother let out a sigh, "Please, just try to do well, Prim looks up to you so… Just please try."

Katniss's half-sister, Prim, was younger than her by nearly 8 years, and though Katniss had originally been furious with her Mother when she re-married so soon after her Father's death, Katniss had fallen in love with her new sister when she was born. Prim was now 9 years old and wanted to be just like Katniss, which Seneca, Prim's Father saw as a problem, because that's what he viewed his step-daughter as, a problem. She'd been caught with alcohol a few times, had gotten in trouble at school more than a few times and was hanging out with a bad crowd, 'dirt-bags' he would usually refer to them as.

So when the opportunity presented itself to Seneca to move to a new and better job he saw it as the perfect solution, not only would he be making more money and making more of a name for himself, he would also be putting a few hundred miles between his step-daughter and her dirt-bag friends.

Katniss's Mother stepped closer to her daughter and said in a low pleading tone, "Please, if you start acting out again, Seneca said that we'd have to send you to boarding school… I don't want you to have to leave and I know Prim doesn't either."

Katniss has heard this once before, it was shortly after she had last gotten caught with a bottle of vodka that her Step-Father had made the threat, at the time she had viewed it as more of an empty threat but she could hear in her Mother's voice that she was worried about the reality of it. She didn't want to get shipped off and Prim would be devastated if she did have to go.

"I'll try," Katniss said, mentally thinking that she only had to get through this year and the next, then she'd graduate and be able to get her own place and be able to do as she pleased.

"Thank you," Her Mother said, relief plainly visible on her face, "Now, this weekend Dr. Cartwright and his family invited us over for dinner, he's the lead Neurologist at Panem Hospital and from what I understand a large contributor to the new Neurology wing that went up last year… He has a daughter that's in your grade…" She looks over at Katniss, waiting for a response.

"Great," Katniss says, half-heartedly.

Her Mother continues to talk about the Cartwright family and the other Neurologists at Panem Hospital.

* * *

The night of the dinner, Seneca pulled his new expensive luxury car to the driveway of the large Georgian styled mansion. Katniss walked behind the rest of her family as they walked to the front door, she felt over-dressed, wearing a blue silk dress and strappy sandals, she had at least been able to resist getting her hair all done-up, her Mother had allowed her to wear a simple braid.

The front door was opened by a smiling blonde who greeted them warmly, "Dr. Crane, so wonderful to see you again, and you must be Violet, delighted to meet you," The women said shaking their hands in turn, then she turned to Katniss and Prim.

"Good to see you again as well, Mrs. Cartwright," Seneca said then motioned to the girls, "This is Primrose and Katniss."

"Delighted to meet you two," Mrs. Cartwright said, "My daughter Delly is looking forward to meeting you, Katniss. She should be down soon, I think she's probably busy texting or something other," She said that last bit more to Violet and added with a laugh, "We can't seem to be able to separate her from her phone."

Violet laughed as if she understood exactly the troubles Mrs. Cartwright seemed to have with her daughter, even though Katniss had never been one to be glued to her phone.

A short balding man came into the foyer, "Seneca, great you could make it. Come on in and sit down… Can I get you a drink?"

Drinks were poured for the adults from crystal bottles sitting on a small hutch, and Mrs. Cartwright handed Katniss and Prim a glass of lemonade.

"Excuse me," Mrs. Cartwright said, "I'll go see what's keeping Delly." She went to leave the room but before she could a round-faced pretty girl with blonde hair bounced into the room, "I'm here, I'm here. Sorry," She gave a breezy apology to her Mother before coming over to Katniss and Prim, she stuck her hand out, "Hi, I'm Delly."

Katniss introduced herself and Prim.

Delly lead the two girls away from the parents and spent the time until dinner was ready talking about this and that, it was obvious that Delly was well trained in socializing and she very rarely needed a response from Katniss or Prim.

* * *

The first day of school came and Katniss arrived dressed in an outfit picked out a sales associate in the department store and approved by her Mother, a fitted short-sleeved blouse with straight legged dark jeans with a sensible but fashionable pair of flats and properly accessorized with two long silver necklaces and a thin bracelet.

She had seen Delly a few other times since their first meeting and she had been introduced to one of Delly's friends, a Cashmere Reynolds who went by Cassie. They had told her where to meet them on the first day and Katniss found the two of them near the front entrance along with a few of their other friends.

Delly energetically greeted Katniss with a wave and was quick to introduce her to the rest of her friends, the group seemed to accept Katniss, some of them with an undertone of indifference. The group started to make their way to the junior hall where all the lockers for the junior class were, the conversations that passed around the girls varied from new clothes, to boys who had flirted with them, to vacations that they had taken over the summer holiday and the boys that flirted with them while they were there; each person acted immensely interested in whatever everyone else was saying while they waited (sometimes not too patiently) for their turn to gush or brag about themselves.

It was only when Cassie said in a hushed tone, "Look there's Cato," That all the girls stopped talking and looked in the direction that Cassie had nodded towards.

It was a crowd of guys, each one looked every bit the jock, and in the middle was Cato, he was in no way better looking than the others but was standing out more because of his cocky attitude and demeanor; and though they had appeared to have been absorbed with their own conversations, as soon as the group of girls that Katniss was with noticed them, the group of guys all turned their attentions to them. Cato stood from his post on the bench and walked over to the girls as they stood in the middle of the hall, his friends were quick to follow.

"Hey," He said, raising his chin slightly in the universal 'cool-guy' greeting.

The girls instantly greeted him and his friends and they stood for several minutes in the middle of the hall, purposefully pretending to be oblivious to the inconvenience this caused for the other students trying to navigate the hall.

Before turning to leave, Cato, who had noticed Katniss right away but pretended not to, finally looked right at her, "Hey, I'm Cato."

"Katniss," She said meeting his gaze. He noticed that, unlike the other girls, she didn't flutter her eyelashes or have a girlish flirty coo to her voice or manner as she held his gaze, which spiked his interest more than any flirty compliment or coquettish behavior could. He gave her a half smile and a slight nod, "See you around, Katniss."

The guys turned, practically moving and probably thinking as one entity as they moved away from the girls. The girls instantly turned their attention to Katniss and started gushing about the extra attentions that she had received from Cato, while Katniss watched him walk away, noticing him shove two guys out of his way, one with dark red hair that was sticking out every which way and the other with blonde hair that hung over his forehead with a slight curl. After being shoved out of the group of jocks way, the blonde threw up his hands and told them to 'watch it', only to get another shove from one of Cato's friends. Him and his red haired friend rolled their eyes and continued on their way, the blonde sweeping his hair out of his eyes at the same moment he saw Katniss. She held his gaze for less than a second before looking back at her friends.

* * *

"Did you see that girl?" Peeta asked Darius, turning around and walking blindly backwards and he looked after the group that Katniss had been with as they walked the opposite way down the hall.

"Which girl?" Darius said, "Cato?"

Peeta smirked and laughed and turned around to face forward as they made their way to their first class, "No, the girl that was with that Reynolds chick, I think she's new."

"Don't bother with those girls, Peet, they'd never look twice at either of us."

But the girl with the gray eyes occupied his thoughts throughout most of his morning classes, he tried, unsuccessfully, to look around the lunchroom for her.

"Who ya lookin' for, Peeta?" Johanna asked as she took an oversized bight of her peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

Peeta looked back down at his lunch and gave a shrug, "No one."

Darius snorted a laugh, sending bits of potato chips spraying out of his mouth and possibly getting some lodged in his nose, "It's that new girl… They're too good for the lunch room."

"New girl?" Johanna asked, her voice muffled through a mouthful of sandwich while she raised an eyebrow.

"A new rich girl joined Cassie Reynolds' flock," Darius explained, every class that they had shared that morning he had seen his friend do a search around the room.

"So what?" Johanna asked with a scoff, "What's she to you?"

Peeta hunched his shoulders a little while giving a little shrug, he turned his focus to opening his milk, "Nothing."

"He thinks he'll be able get her to leave her pearls and furs behind and join our teenage dirt-bag rif-raf ways."

Johanna scoffed again, annoyed by the mention of the preppy girls and their rich preppy ways, "So, anyways," She said rather pointedly changing the subject, "What class you guys got next, I've got home-ec, either of you wanna ditch with me?"

Darius gave a shrug and agreed, first day are always boring, Peeta was about to agree also because he just had health class next but then he saw Cassie Reynolds come into the cafeteria followed by her group, he quickly looked through the group and saw the long dark braid of the new girl standing near the back of the group, walking next to Delly Cartwright, it looked like they were merely cutting through the cafeteria on their way towards the main hall. He let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding, "There she is."

Johanna's head snapped around to follow his gaze.

His eyes followed her, though Delly was talking animatedly to her, he thought she looked bored, every now and then she'd give a short answer to whatever Delly had asked or else give a shrug.

"Stare much longer and we'll have to get a mop for your drool puddle," Johanna said with a definite edge of annoyance.

"Aw chill out, Jo," Darius said, "Let him enjoy the view before she reveals her bitch-side."

"She's not a bitch," Peeta was quick to say.

"And how do you know this?" Darius asked. When all Peeta could do was shrug for a response, Darius continued, gesturing in Katniss's direction, "Trust me, all those girls are bitches who think they're too good for us, she doesn't know who you are and she doesn't give a damn about you."

Peeta crumpled up the rest of his lunch and stuffed it into the brown bag that it had been packed in, "I'll see you two later."

"Later, lover boy," Darius said mockingly.

Peeta tossed the brown paper bag into the nearest trash can and hoisted his black backpack strap up on to his shoulder as he started heading towards the group of girls, they were in the hallway already. He was just started to steel his nerves and say something to the girl, who was in the back of the group, when he got a sharp shove from behind, he fumbled a few steps and almost fell over.

"Learn to walk, loser," Cato said as he walked passed him and joined the girls, followed by a few of his friends.

Peeta heard Cato address the girl, "How's your day going?"

She looked bored and answered with a shrug, "Fine."

"Cool… we were going to be hanging out at Marv's after school, do you girls wanna join?"

"That sounds fab, we'll be there," Cassie was quick to answer for the group.

Cato gave a nod and looked back at Katniss, "You going to come?"

She gave a small shrug, "I don't have a car."

"I can give you a ride," Cato said smoothly with a grin.

Katniss gave another shrug, "I guess so."

"Cool, meet you after school then."

When the guys had disappeared around the corner the girls turned to Katniss, saying things like, "You're so lucky." "He has the coolest car." and "You can borrow my curling iron to fix your hair at the end of school."

Peeta hadn't realized that he'd been standing there watching the scene unfold until Cassie happened to look up and see him, she gave him a pointed look of disdain and said to her friends, "Come on."

Peeta stood still for a while after they had left, his mind reeling, 'Cato? Cato? That girl agreed to spend time with Cato? What the hell is wrong with the universe.'

He held the strap of his backpack onto his shoulder and he shuffled his orange converses along the hallway tile, he didn't think that he could hate Cato more than he already did but he despised the dick now.

He sat slouched in his seat, waiting for health class to start, he regretted not going with Darius and Johanna now. He started idly doodling on the back of his notebook, not paying attention to the other students as they filed in. He didn't see her come into the room, alone, she did a quick look around the room and chose the seat in front of him.

By the time he looked up and noticed her, she had already made herself comfortable and was toying with the bottom of her braid. He mentally cursed at himself, thinking that if he'd been paying attention he could've said something to her as she sat down. He looked around the room, most of the seats were full now, is that why she chose that seat or did she want to sit near him? He racked his brain for something cool or witty to say to her but could think of nothing.

The class started and rather than pay attention to the teacher he focused on her smooth dark hair that was pulled back into a braid, a few strands had gotten loose and hung against the back of her neck, her neck had a graceful curve and held a few small dark freckles. When the teacher started taking roll call, she raised her hand to the name Katniss Crane. He focused on the name, repeating it in his mind, the teacher had to call his name twice before he snapped out of it and raised his hand.

The teacher gave him a look, "Try to pay attention please, Mr. Mellark," and then continued on with roll call.

Midway through class she started quietly tapping her tapered finger tips on the edge of her desk, he could hardly hear the beat that she was tapping out unless the teacher wasn't talking, he had to stop himself from joining in on her little beat that she was creating.

The teacher handed out a packet that held the syllabus, giving a stack to each person in the front row saying, "Take one and pass it back."

He waited, trying not to appear over eager, for her to turn and hand it back to him.

He watched her fingers as they separated one packet from the rest and then she turned, her eyes flicked up to his as she handed him the papers.

"Thanks," He managed to get out as he took them from her.

"No problem," She said, her eyes went down to his t-shirt, "Cool shirt."

"Thanks," He numbly answered as she turned around. He looked down at this shirt, it was a faded Iron Maiden tour '88 t-shirt. He spent the rest of the class wondering, did she really like it, or was she just saying that? She hadn't sounded sarcastic but had she been teasing him, Darius or Johanna would probably say that she had been.

When the teacher dismissed the class, saying that the next day would be gym class, since the two classes alternated and that they'd be meeting in the north gym.

The girl, Katniss, was up and out the door before Peeta had a chance to cram his notebook and things into his backpack. He still hurried out the door, hoping that maybe he'd run into her in the hallway on the way to junior hall, he didn't have any luck but did find Johanna and Darius leaning against his locker, red eyed and dazed looking they greeted him.

"She's in my health class," He told Darius.

"My god that must be a sign, you _must _be meant to be," Johanna said sarcastically then started laughing, Darius joined her in the type of laughter that's caused by a stoned mind.

"Shut-up," Peeta said.

* * *

The weeks went by, and while he was painfully aware that she was now officially Cato's girlfriend, it didn't stop him from watching her, the way she'd strum her fingers quietly when she was bored in health class and the quiet focus she'd have in gym class, she was athletic, easily the most athletic girl in the class, while he liked to see the competitive side of her, he mostly liked getting to see her tan legs. He made the mistake of mentioning it to Darius when Johanna was around, she snorted and said sarcastically, "Yeah, in her gym uniform, I'm sure she rocks with Keds and tube socks… and the white t-shirt she wears, wowza."

The school day was over and the three friends were making their way down the path to the student parking lot when they heard the sound of squealing tires, Darius motioned to the blue IRoc and said, "Look, there's your girlfriend's boyfriend."

Peeta watched as Cato's car fishtailed a bit after taking a sharp turn and then zoomed off, he couldn't tell if Cato was alone or if Katniss was with him. He lived on the same block as Cato and had seen her hanging out at his house a few times.

"He's such a dick," Peeta muttered. She didn't belong with a guy like Cato.

Darius kept insisting that Peeta was only seeing what he wanted to see, but Peeta was sure that Katniss always seemed bored and indifferent when she was with him.

"So why is she with him then?" Darius questioned and Peeta could only shrug and wonder about that himself.

"She doesn't give a damn about you or anyone else except for herself," She added in an unapologetic tone, "Sorry, but it's the truth. She probably doesn't even know who you are."

As the weeks turned into months and Katniss was still with that dick Cato (Peeta's pet name for him), Peeta couldn't help but get more and more curious as to why she was with him.

One day just before spring he saw her drive up to school in a brand new car, Mercedes convertible. In health class he worked up the nerve to say something, "Saw you drive in this morning, cool car, is it yours?"

"Yeah," She said, "A birthday present."

"Nice," He said, impressed but a little intimidated by the expensive present that probably cost at least double what his car was worth, maybe even triple, "Happy birthday."

She turned and gave him a half smile, "Thanks."

The next day as Katniss opened up her locker at the start of the day a fold sheet of paper fell out, she picked it up and opened it. It was a drawing, someone had drawn a picture of her. She stared at it for a while in disbelief, it was obviously supposed to be her, with a dark braid draped over her shoulder and light gray eyes, but the artist had drawn her far more beautiful than she had ever thought of herself as. She heard Cato coming towards her, talking loudly to his friends, she carefully tucked the picture into her backpack before Cato came up behind her, laying a heavy arm over her shoulders and turning her around to give her a wet kiss on her mouth.

Katniss mentally counted to three before pulling away, she had figured out, through trial and error, that if she broke the kiss before three seconds he would usually come back for a second kiss but if she let it last longer than three seconds then he'd shove his tongue in her mouth. She turned away from him on the pretense of grabbing her notebook and textbook for her first class.

After lunch she sat in her seat in front of Peeta, she turned to look at him, he looked up from his notebook where he'd be doodling. She looked at his notebook and then back at him, "You're a good artist."

"Thanks," He said as she turned back around to face forward.

He looked at the back of her head for a moment, was she talking about his scribbles or did she figure out that he had drawn the picture? He hadn't signed his name or even initialed it. He had seen her when she opened her locker this morning and saw his drawing, she looked surprised but otherwise he couldn't really gage any other reaction, did she like it? He turned and walked away when he saw Cato coming up behind her, it always made his insides crawl whenever he saw them touching and kissing.

* * *

"Has Cato picked out his tux yet?" Katniss's Mother asked her, holding up a dress she had just taken from the rack.

"I dunno," Katniss said, idly flipping through the prom dresses.

"I suspect he'll probably go for the classic black and white look, he seems so traditional," The Mother had a vague sort of smile on her face, proud of her daughter's choice in boyfriend, she knew that he was the starting quarterback and captain of the football team, and that he was being scouted by more than one college, when he came to the house he had always shown his best manners to her and her husband, and she had heard from Mrs. Cartwright who had heard from Delly that he was a good candidate for Prom King.

Katniss turned and went into the dressing rooms to try on the dresses that her Mother had picked out for her to try on.

"Thank you for letting me come with you, Katniss, I know you probably wanted to go with your friends."

"It's no problem, Mom," Katniss answered, she was getting tired of her supposed 'friends' and was actually thankful for the excuse to not spend more time with them. The group was planning on a group shopping trip the following day, when Katniss said she wouldn't be joining them they had acted appropriately disappointed but it was obvious that they didn't really care one way or the other.

"They're all getting mani pedis the day before and their hair done at the same salon the day of prom," Katnis s told her with an air of indifference, "I'm going to go with them for that."

"Oh that will be so exciting, part of the fun of prom is getting ready with your girlfriends."

Katniss tried on dress after dress before they picked a strapless red gown that skimmed the floor and had delicate rhinestones places along the fabric that caught the light when she moved.

When they got home she tried the dress on for Prim to see, while her sister gushed, Katniss couldn't draw up much excitement. She was tired of trying to act like the goody-two-shoes Seneca wanted her to act like, she was tired of acting like a Crane, back home her friends all still thought of her as Katniss Everdeen, even though her step-father had legally adopted her and her last name had been legally changed to Crane at the same time as her Mother's. Here, at the new school, everyone thought of her as Katniss Crane, a doctor's daughter. Sure her new 'friends' knew how to throw a decent party that served a wide range of alcohol, and Cato especially liked to drink, which provided a bit of a release, but the whole act of pretending to care about her 'friends' petty issues and listening to their air-headed gossip was draining. She missed being able to act like Katniss Everdeen.

She saw the concert notice when she was flipping through the newspaper, which made her mouth quirk up in a half smile, her and her old friends back home used to love going to concerts, the thrill of pushing your way through the crowd to get close to the stage, people bouncing around bumping into each other, it had always been a good time, the concert that was scheduled for next week was one that her old friends would've loved. At the first chance she got she drove to the nearest ticket master at a retail outlet and bought two tickets, careful to use cash and not her credit card so Seneca and her Mother would be none the wiser.

* * *

The day of prom arrived. She had gotten her nails done with her friends and now sat in the saloon that was crowded with her friends as they got their hair done. The room was buzzing with excitement but all Katniss could think about was the concert next week. Cassie brought in two bottles of top-shelf champange, and the hairdressers turned a blind eye as the underaged girls giggled and sipped the expensive bubbly.

Cato came to pick Katniss up, he gave his most charming smile to her Mother and then slipped her crosage over her wrist before giving her hand a kiss, which was more for the Mother's benefit than Katniss's. Seneca came down and shook Cato's hand, dutifully told Katniss that she looked lovely, told them to have a nice night, and ducked into his office. Katniss agreed to stand for two pictures with Cato before waving her Mother off, saying that they needed to go.

Once out the door and heading towards the car, Cato started leaving sloppy kisses along Katniss's neck. His breath had a minty smell to it that couldn't quite conceal the smell of beer.

"Got anything to drink?" Katniss asked.

He gave her a wink as he opened her door, "Got something for afterwards."

After he closed her door she reached under his seat where he usually stashed a bottle or something, she started to pull out the bottle with the red cap.

Cato slid into his seat, "Saving that for the party after prom," he slid his hand up her arm in what was supposed to be a seductive move.

Katniss just faced forward.

Cato gave a humorless laugh, "Chill out there little girly, I got two beers in the back still," he kissed her shoulder, "I know my girl likes to party."

She gave him a tight smile, trying to show that when he called her 'his girl' it made her skin crawl.

* * *

Peeta met Darius and Johanna at Johanna's house, the three of them were going as a group, they suffered through Johanna's mom snapping countless pictures of the three of them before finally escaping.

Johanna grumbled that the dainty little purse that matched her dress was too small to conceal a flask and made both Peeta and Darius promise that they'd share whenever she asked, they each had flasks tucked into their waist coats.

They handed their tickets to the teacher standing at the door and joined the large crowd.

Johanna saw Peeta scan the room, obviously looking for someone.

"Peeta, you're not going to enjoy the dance if you spend the entire time mopping over Katniss," She gave him a nudge, "She doesn't know what she's missing… and she's not worth it."

After an hour or so of mulling around the room, Johanna pulled Darius onto the dance floor, leaving Peeta by himself. He took out his flask and took a small swig on the sly before quickly tucking it away, he leaned back into the white folding chair and sighed, feeling dejected and lonely as he watched all the other couples. He started searching the crowd for Katniss,

When lo and behold he found Katniss, she was looking right at him and walking over. He drew in a shallow breath and felt his lips shake as he realized that she was really coming over to him. What should he say? Was this real?

She looked beautiful.

She stopped right in front of him and gave him a small smile, she opened her mouth and his eyes went wide.

"I've got two tickets for Iron Maiden… Come with me Friday?" She gave him a playful smirk, "Don't say maybe."

She was a teenage dirt-bag like him and wanted to listen to Iron Maiden with him.

His mouth hung open for a second before he remembered his basic motor skills and gave his head a nod, "Yeah… yeah. I'd love to." He knew his voice sounded breathless as he answered but he couldn't find it in himself to care, she was talking to him… Not only that she was asking him out.

He saw her eyes flick to the chair next to him.

"Do you want to sit?" He asked.

She made a small movement to the chair before stopping, she looked over her shoulder at the throng of other students busy dancing, looking to make sure her 'friends' weren't watching, before turning back to him, "I really want to get out of here."

His eyes bugged out slightly, his mouth dropped open and he momentarily forgot how to breathe.

"Do you want to escape with me?" She asked.

It was all Peeta could do to nod and stand, she gave him a smile and the two walked out, side by side. Peeta turned around and searched the dance floor for his friends, he caught Darius's eye, the look on Darius's face was priceless as he registered that Peeta was leaving, and leaving with Katniss no less.

While Peeta himself was still wondering if this was all for real.

As they walked out the door the teachers warned them that they couldn't come back if they left. Peeta followed Katniss's example and ignored them completely.

Once they were out of the building and on the street, Peeta found his voice enough to ask, "So… what do you want to do?"

Katniss looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "What's in your flask?"

He let out a short laugh of disbelief, had _she_ been watching _him_, "Uh, whiskey… do you want-"

"Thanks," She said and eagerly took the flask as soon as he handed it to her. She took a long pull from it and handed it back. The thought that her mouth had been where his had been was enough to make Peeta feel like he was walking on air.

"Do you just want to walk around… Uh, I don't have my car… Darius drove."

Katniss just shrugged but seemed to have a destination in mind as they continued walking, passing the flask back and forth a few times. Occasionally Peeta would try to say something to get something by way of a conversation but she would usually only respond with a smirk or a raised eyebrow and then they'd fall back into silence.

After several blocks, Katniss stopped at a corner and looked up at a parking garage, she looked over at Peeta, "Wanna climb to the top?"

"Um, sure," He said, there probably wasn't anything she could suggest that he wouldn't go along with.

They were one level away from the open-aired top level of the garage when Katniss motioned for him to follow.

She noticed Peeta's confusion as they walked along the lines of cars.

"Cato parked up here," She explained.

Peeta was suddenly dumbstruck with the thought that maybe she was going to ditch him as soon as they got to Cato's car, did she just want company to get his car and then she'd leave him to pick her boyfriend up?

She pulled a pair of keys from her small clutch and dangled them in the air, "Didn't even notice when I lifted them… Probably too busy staring at Cassie's tits," She said in a joking tone.

She unlocked Cato's blue IRoc and reached under the drivers seat for the bottle of Maker's Mark she knew was there. She lifted up to show to Peeta with a triumphant grin.

The thought of taking liquor from the guy who had countless times gone out of his way to make Peeta's life hell, thrilled Peeta almost as much as being here with Katniss, almost.

"Sweet," He said, breaking the seal when Katniss handed it to him. He took a swig before taking the opportunity to refill his flask, not really caring when some spilled onto the garage floor.

Katniss reached into the car again and took one of the two joints that were pre-rolled and waiting in the pullout ashtray.

She took a seat on the hood of Cato's car and lit the joint she had taken, she offered it to Peeta who eagerly took a seat next to her and accepted.

The whole thing still seemed surreal to him, he found himself looking over at Katniss, just to make sure she really was there. The fact that he was sitting on that dick Cato's car drinking his whiskey was unbelievable, but adding Katniss into the mix threw his mind for a loop and the whiskey wasn't helping him make sense of it all.

"So…" He started, "Um, what-" He stopped himself not even sure how to continue, "Uh, not that this isn't awesome, but why?"

"Why?" Katniss repeated him, she looked over at him, "Why did I leave?"

"Well, yeah… and why with me?"

She looked over at him with a smile, "You looked like you wanted to escape too."

"You noticed me," He asked still dumbfounded. Even though he sat behind her in health, and they had exchanged a few sentences over the course of the year, he had always assumed that she didn't even know that he existed.

She answered with a smirk and took another drag off the joint and handed it to him.

He asked another question that he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to, "So… you and Cato… did you break up or something?"

She gave a short laugh, "I think he's a little to busy with Cassie for me to interrupt him with an update of his relationship status."

He searched her face for any sign of hurt but didn't see anything but amusement, he had always suspected that she didn't care about him but they had been together for the last few months, did she really not care or is it just an act?

"But you want to break up with him?"

Katniss laughed, her amusement probably intensified by the high and whiskey buzz that was setlling in, "Wouldn't you want to?"

Peeta joined her laughter.

Katniss took the joint from him and took another hit then asked, "Want anymore?"

Peeta shook his head no.

She slid off the car and carefully put the joint out on the side of the concrete wall of the parking garage and then slipped what was left of the joint into her small clutch. She took another swig of the Maker's before capping it and slipping it back under the front seat, then reached into the backseat to grab a bag that held a change of clothes and flip-flops, then she dropped the keys in the middle console and closed the door, leaving it unlocked. Peeta was still sitting on the hood of the car wondering what she wanted to do next.

She took a few steps closer to him, "When do you think your friends will want to leave?"

"Uh, I dunno."

"Were you guys going somewhere afterwards?"

"Uh, yeah… Darius's older brother invited us over to hang out."

When Katniss didn't say anything, he asked, "Um, I'm sure you have something planned but do you want to join us?"

She gave him a smile, "I'd love to."

He gave a breathy reply of, "Cool… uh I'll ask Darius to text when they're leav-"

He was cut off as she leaned over and kissed him.

His brain went into overdrive, she was kissing him!

She pulled away just far enough for their lips to break apart, their eyes met and she playfully bit her lower lip and her eyes asked the question of, "OK?"

Without thinking he reached forward, his hand weaving into her dark hair that was hanging down in waves and pulled her lips back to his.

He barely registered that she climbed back onto the hood of the car until he felt her body right next to his. His hand that wasn't in her hair went to his waist, all the while his brain was whirling, wondering, "Really? Really?!"

After a few frenzied make-out moments Peeta pulled away, over the course of the make-out session he had ended up hovering over her, he took a few breaths to steady himself and he asked, "Are you being serious right now?"

Katniss laughed, "Seriously serious."

"Why?" He said in a bewildered tone, "Why me?"

"Do you mind?" She asked.

"No," He quickly answered, "I just don't get it…. I mean, we've barely spoken before." He stopped himself from asking the question of 'are you going to act like this never happened tomorrow?', he didn't want to the answer to that question, but then he remembered that she asked him out to a concert next weekend, so surely she wasn't going to just go back to pretending that he didn't exist after this.

"Do you want to take a break and have a heart to heart?" She asked teasingly.

He laughed and shook his head, "I think we should save that for later."

She nodded and pulled him back and gave him a long kiss, her hand slipping inside his tux jacket and trailing up his back. She suddenly pulled away and looked at him, "Just so you know. I'm not going to have sex with you tonight."

His mouth dropped open at her bluntness and he sputtered for a bit, "Wh-wha, no… I wasn't… I didn't think."

She laughed at his nervousness and kissed him again.

He'd been caught off guard when she said that but even as he was kissing her back he couldn't help but pick up on how she specified 'tonight', did that mean that she would have sex with him another night?

He moaned a little into their kiss at the thought and dared to let his hand go to her chest.

The sound of the door of the stairwell closing made the two of them break apart and slide off the hood of Cato's car. Katniss covered her mouth to stiffle a laugh as they ducked behind the car. Whoever it was got into their car a little ways away and drove off.

Their make-out moment broken Katniss made a half-hearted attempt to smooth her dress as she stood up, she looked over at Peeta who had never taken his eyes off her and she smiled, "Wanna go to the top?" She asked, repeating the original plan for coming into the parking garage.

They climbed the remaining flight of stairs and were greeted with a cool breeze. Katniss walked to the edge and looked out over the four-foot concrete railing, she turned her focus on the tall building that was across the street and looked up to the roof of that building, she closed her eyes and felt the breeze on her face and imagined what it would feel like to be up on the roof of that building, she'd really feel separated from the city then.

She turned to face Peeta and hopped up, sitting on the ledge of the railing.

Peeta quickly moved forward to hold her, not liking the thought of her sitting so precariously on the ledge with nothing between her and the eight story drop behind her, "Careful."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "I bet you I could walk the length of the railing."

He wasn't sure how to respond, why would anyone want to walk along the narrow ledge? Was she being serious?

"I'm sure you could," He said, trying to sound smooth, "So no reason to try."

Katniss laughed then slid off the railing and leaned into him and gave him a long kiss, "Were you worried?"

He wasn't sure what the cool answer would be so he chose to answer honestly, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Katniss laughed again and made a show of looking over the railing, "If I fell I don't think I'd have to worry about being hurt."

He was taken aback by the meaning of her sentence, if she did fall eight stories on to the sidewalk below, death would be more likely than injury.

"Oh don't be so serious," She give him a playful shove on his shoulder before draping her arms around his neck.

He leans in and gives her a kiss, everything was happening in a whirlwind and he was having trouble processing it all, he had spent most of the school year trying to learn more about her from afar and now she seemed to be surprising him at every turn, the girl he was kissing now was nothing like the girl that he had seen interacting with her friends at school, part of him was telling him to 'shut-up and enjoy it' but another part couldn't help but wonder, 'was she for real?'

**A/N: I don't encourage underage drinking or drug use... Just saying. There will be another chapter after this one but it won't be really related to the song - just a bit of fun that was had at their after Prom party. Hope the story entertained. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Took me a bit longer to get this chapter up than I had planned, so sorry for the delay. Thank you all so much for the reviews, follows and favorites, it means alot to me. This is the last chapter of my little story, I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. **

A few people came up to the top-level to their cars and one or two looked over at Katniss and Peeta, dressed in a ball gown and tux, sitting on the ground with their railing at their backs, two older girls who came up saw them and exchanged smirks, probably thinking back to their own prom night shenanigans.

While they passed Peeta's flask back and forth, Katniss suggested playing the game 'would you rather…'

Peeta questions were innocent ones like, "Would you rather eat pizza or cheeseburgers everyday for the rest of your life?" or "Would you rather be able to fly or turn invisible?"

Where Katniss's questions ranged from "Would you rather fall into a pit full of snakes or a pit full of spiders?" and "Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?"

Neither were sure how much time had passed but it was more the fact that Peeta's flask was empty that drew their attention to how long they had been up there.

Peeta texted Darius, 'Hey'.

Darius texted him right back, '?! what happened. We're getting ready to head out.'

Peeta smiled, the look on Darius's face had been priceless when he saw Peeta leaving with Katniss. "I think Jo and Darius are ready to leave… do you still want to go to his brother's?"

"If that's alright."

"It's more than alright," Peeta said and quickly typed out a response to Darius, saying that him and Katniss would meet them by the car if they were ready to leave the dance.

He couldn't help but smile when he visualized Darius's reaction to the text, learning that Katniss was not only still with him but that she was going to come with them to Finnick's.

There was a pause of a minute or two before Darius texted back that he'd see them in a bit.

They walked down the stairwell, when they were on the level that Cato was parked out they could hear someone throwing a fit, swear words were echoing off the concrete walls of the garage. Katniss peered through the glass door and could see Cassie standing with her arms crossed next to Cato's car looking annoyed, Cato must have noticed the pilfered whiskey and perhaps the stolen joint also, or else he was just pissed that Katniss had taken his keys and left his car unlocked with the keys easily visible inside.

Katniss couldn't help but laugh as she quickly ducked out of sight, she gave Peeta a long kiss.

"This night has been awesome!" She said before turning to continue down the stairs. She didn't care what the repercussions of tonight would be, it wasn't likely that Cato would rat her out for stealing whiskey or a joint when he'd get in trouble just as much as her. It was more likely that him and Cassie would snub her and if she was honest with herself she couldn't think of a better outcome. She had spent the school year trying to please her Mother and Step-Father and she'd had enough and wanted to let loose and have fun.

Peeta followed behind the girl that he'd been dreaming about since the first day of school, thoroughly baffled about everything that had happened since she walked up to him and invited him to an Iron Maiden concert.

Johanna and Darius were waiting by Darius's car when they got there.

Katniss felt completely at ease, in her mind the night couldn't get any better and she was beyond worrying about how she'd be received by Peeta's friends, "Hey, I'm Katniss… Is it cool if I join you?"

Both Darius and Johanna were taken aback, Darius recovered, saying, "Sure, hop in." While Johanna kept looking at her in disbelief.

They were driving down the road a while later when Johanna finally spoke, "So what happened with your Prom King boyfriend?"

Katniss gave a laugh, "Did he get Prom King then? Bravo to him, that'll be the highlight of his life."

Darius laughed at the jab.

Darius's older brother, Finnick lived with his girlfriend, Annie in a small townhouse near the University, he let Darius and his friends come over every now and then to hang out.

Finnick answered the door and greeted the formally dressed group. Peeta introduced Katniss to him, Finnick shook her hand, noticing Peeta's hand on her back and he gave Peeta an obvious wink before saying to Katniss, "It's very nice to meet you, Katniss. Come on in."

His girlfriend Annie was curled up on the couch, her brown hair pulled back in a messy chignon and she wore a dark gray lounge pants and a plain white tank top.

"Hey, how was prom?" She asked as Johanna came in and took a seat next to her.

Johanna shrugged and then made a discrete nod in Katniss's direction and an eye roll, she wasn't exactly pleased with the sudden new addition, it wasn't that Katniss had ever done anything to make Johanna dislike her, it was more based off clique prejudices and perhaps partly because of Peeta's attention/borderline obsession with her all year and though she'd never admit it, Johanna felt slightly jealous of her.

Annie looked over at Katniss with surprise, in all the times that Darius had brought his friends over, it had always just been Peeta and Johanna.

"Peeta brought a new friend," Johanna said under her breath.

Peeta lead Katniss further into the living room and introduced her to Annie.

"Well kiddos, can I get you a drink?" Finnick asked, "We've got beer and I think Annie might have some wine left."

Everyone answered for a beer and Annie held out her wine glass and asked for a refill.

"Um, is there a place I could change?" Katniss asked, motioning with her bag.

"Of course, there's a bathroom first door down the hall, so you can, uh, slip into something a bit more comfortable," Finnick said and gave her a saucy wink.

"Finn," Annie said in a mock stern tone.

When Katniss had left the room, Johanna took the opportunity to turn to Peeta with a sharp questioning look.

"What?" Peeta asked, he couldn't stop himself from smiling, which only added to Johanna's ire.

"What?" Johanna asked in a hushed tone, "How about you explaining why we have to deal with Miss. Priss?"

"She's not a priss," Peeta said, "She just wants to hang out."

"She just wants to hang out?" Johanna asked with disbelief, "You know your going to get your ass kicked Monday. She's probably texting Cato now."

"Who's Cato?" Finnick asked passing around the bottles of beer and giving Annie her glass of white wine with a small bow with a quiet, "Mi lady."

"Her boyfriend," Johanna said nodding to the closed bathroom door, "And the top jock strap of the school."

Finnick looked over at Peeta with newfound admiration, "Peeta, you rascal."

"It's not like that," Peeta said, still unable to stop smiling.

"Oh really, so is that your lipstick that's smeared on your neck then?" Johanna asked raising an eyebrow.

Peeta's grin widened and he just gave a shrug, Darius gave him a high-five and Finnick gave him a playful shove.

"So what happened?" Darius asked.

"She wanted to leave the dance… I guess Cato was off with Cassie... So, we broke into his car, drank his whiskey and smoked his joint," Peeta gave a small shrug and finished in an off hand sort of way, "And then we made out on the hood of his car."

Darius burst out laughing, "That is epic, man."

"Sounds like she using you to get back at her boyfriend," Johanna said and Annie nodded in agreement.

"So what?" Darius said with a laugh and Finnick gave a nod in his agreement. Darius continued in a quieter tone, more explaining to Finnick and Annie, "He's been jonesing after this girl since the first day of school."

"I don't like her," Johanna said leaning back on the sofa and taking a drink of her beer.

"You don't know her," Peeta said defensively.

"You don't really either," Johanna snapped back.

"Just try to be nice," Peeta asked, Johanna just rolled her eyes, and he went on, "Or at least try not to be overly rude, alright?"

"Whatever," Johanna said.

Katniss came out a minute later, formal gown gone though her hair was still hanging in loose waves around her shoulders and cascading down her back, she wore a simple pair of low slung jeans and a cropped silver tank top that showed off her toned midriff.

"Your beer," Finnick said handing it over to her.

"Thanks," Katniss said with a half smile.

Johanna stood up and walked past Katniss without looking at her before going to change out of her own dress and into her shorts and long tank top.

The guys had it a bit easier, they had shed their jackets and ties and unbuttoned the top few buttons of their dress shirts to get comfortable.

Finnick suggested they go into the basement, that was usually where he and Annie took their guests because the basement was where they smoked and where they had the Play Station, ping-pong table and stereo, the living room on the main floor was where they hung out when it was just them or when they had their parents visit.

Finnick grabbed a few beers from the fridge and Darius did the same while everyone else followed into the basement.

Annie and Jo each grabbed the controllers for the Play Station before anyone else had a say in the matter, while Finnick grabbed the bong from behind the couch.

Several minutes later, a thick haze of smoke hung in the air, Annie and Jo were still trying to keep their focus on their game Grand Turismo, while the others were sitting around mind numbed.

Finnick stood to turn his iPod, that was plugged into speakers by the TV, to play Rolling Stones 'Sticky Fingers'.

Peeta sat next to Katniss and tried to appear casual as he laid his arm along the back of the couch, right by where Katniss was sitting. He scanned over her face, before tonight, the closest he had been to her was sitting behind her in Health class, now he was mere inches from her and, not long ago, he had been even closer.

He was watching her lips when suddenly they gave a little twitch into a teasing smile and she turned to look at him.

In a stage whisper she said, "You're staring."

Finnick, who had been cheering his girlfriend on, heard Katniss and laughed and looked at the two of them.

Peeta felt his face flush slightly but his was a little too drunk and stoned to care much, feeling bolder than his sober self probably ever could he let his arm fall to her shoulders and leaned in right to her ear and whispered, so that only she could hear it, "I can't help it, you're beautiful."

Katniss seemed to be fighting a huge grin that was threatening to take over her face at the same time that Johanna swore because she momentarily lost control of her car.

"How about we play a drinking game," Darius suggested, "Beer pong?"

Annie and Johanna didn't want to leave their game but grudgingly agreed, Johanna was even less pleased when it was decided that it would be guys against girls.

The ping pong table was set up and the beers standing at the ready.

Despite Johanna's complaints the teams turned out to be evenly matched. Although Peeta quickly decided that he preferred the girls to win because then he got to see Katniss's (slightly drunken) victory dance, she raised her arms over her head, making even more of her stomach visible beneath her crop top as she swayed her hips and jumped around next to Annie who was celebrating with her. After beer pong came two rounds of tippy cups, where Katniss impressed even Johanna with her chugging abilities, and by the end of the second round Johanna was joining in with Annie and Katniss's over exaggerated and completely drunken dance.

* * *

Katniss stepped out of the bathroom and started crossing the living room to go back into the basement when Peeta came across her path. Feeling more than a little buzzed he immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, "Hey," He said leaning towards her.

"Hey," She said with a smirk. She laid one around his neck and with her other hand, weaved her fingers through his hair.

He closed his eyes at her touch and let out a long exhale.

"I like your hair," She whispered by his ear, gently dragging her fingernails over his scalp.

"I like everything about you," He said responded, a drunken admission.

She was biting her lower lip and looking at him as if trying to figure something out.

"I've always like everything about you," Peeta said, a small voice in his head was seemed to be trying to tell him to stop talking but he didn't want to listen, "I remember seeing you before school on the first day, you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen."

Katniss gave a nervous sort of laugh, embarrassed, "OK, I think you're a little drunk."

"No - well, maybe, yeah, but I'm serious," Peeta said firmly, he reached up to cup the side of her face with his hand, "I wanted, so much, to know you."

The short silence that followed left Katniss feeling like he was waiting for a response, she had never been good at saying stuff, especially anything about feelings, so she tightened her arms around his neck and shoulders, pressing herself closer to his and brought her lips to his in a long lingering kiss.

Someone clearing their throat, broke Katniss and Peeta apart, their arms were tangled around each other still, Peeta's hand had scrunched Katniss's top up so it was just barely covering her bra, while his other hand was on the curve of her butt, Katniss's was holding on to his strong bicep with one hand and the other was on the back of his neck.

"Sorry for interrupting," Johanna said, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

"Sure you are," Katniss says with an eye roll.

Peeta lowers his hands as Katniss removes hers from him.

"We were wondering where you two had gone too," Johanna tells Peeta, then clears her throat and gives a meaningful glance at Peeta's crotch, "Maybe you want to go to the bathroom before joining us downstairs."

Peeta's face flushes, embarrassed and annoyed with Johanna.

"We'll see you in a bit," Johanna said with a smirk.

While Peeta ducked into the bathroom, Johanna turned to Katniss fixing her with a stern glare, "So."

Katniss not intimidated by Johanna said, "So."

"I don't know what your game is or whatever, but if you're just using Peeta to get back at Cato-"

Katniss interrupted Johanna with a scoff, "I'm not."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Well I _was_ having a good time," Katniss said hotly, "Despite the glares you keep sending me."

"The whole year you don't give Peeta a second glance while he's been infatuated with you. You better not be planning on going back to ignoring him and acting like your too good for him."

"I never acted like I was too good for him, and I'm getting a little tired of you acting like you know me."

"Oh please, it's not like you or any of your friends are exactly complex. The only things you preppy rich girls know how to do is shop and think of yourselves."

Katniss scoffed, "You know, you shouldn't act like such a know-it-all about things you know nothing about, it just makes you seem bitchy."

"Bitchiness is just part of my sunny personality," Johanna said with a smirk, "So is this where you start crying about being the black sheep in your family and how Daddy doesn't have time for you?"

Katniss fixed her with a hard glare, "My real Dad is dead, so shut your mouth." She roughly brushed past Johanna and headed downstairs.

Darius was sitting on the couch with his brother and Annie was curled up in the armchair looking sleepy.

Finnick said that him and Annie would probably be calling in a night soon, "Feel free to hang out for a bit to get a sober head."

"I think I'll be alright," Darius said, he drank some more of the water he had been nursing, "It's a pretty straight shot home." Him, Peeta and Johanna all lived within four blocks of each other.

Johanna came down the stairs and took her seat without looking at anyone, Peeta came down a few minutes later, Finnick and Annie took that time to say good-night.

"It was nice meeting you, Katniss," Annie said before heading upstairs.

Katniss gave her a little wave and mumbled something along the lines of "nice to meet you too" before turning her focus on drinking the rest of her beer.

"You guys want to head out?" Darius asked after a minute or two of silence.

"Sure," Peeta said when neither Katniss or Johanna said anything, Johanna was messing with the label on the beer with a scowl on her face and Katniss had made any move to acknowledge anyone apart from Annie since Peeta sat down next to her.

The car ride was silent, Darius was focused on driving straight and keeping under the speed limit, and Johanna in the front seat sat with her arms crossed and looking out the window, while Peeta and Katniss were in the back seat.

Peeta reached over and took Katniss's hand and gave it a little squeeze, she turned her head and gave him a small smile.

Darius pulled into his driveway, "Do you guys want to come in for a bit?"

"No, I'll head home," Johanna said opening her door.

"We can walk to my house and I can drive you home," Peeta said quietly to Katniss.

"Oh, sorry," Darius said honestly, "I'm so used to Jo and Peet being able to walk home from here, I didn't think about you. Do you want me to-"

Katniss shook her head, "It's alright."

"I'll walk you home, Jo," Darius said.

"Don't be stupid," Johanna muttered, "It's not even a five minute walk."

"Night Jo," Peeta said.

"Night," She said then hesitated for a moment, "Bye Katniss," She let out a quiet but annoyed sigh, "And sorry."

Katniss looked over at her and held her gaze for a moment then said, "It's fine. Bye."

Peeta looked over at Darius questioningly, wondering if his friend knew what the girls were talking about but Darius just shook his head.

"Goodnight," Darius said to Peeta, his eyes flicked over to Katniss and then back to Peeta and gave his friend an obvious wink.

Peeta ignored him and took Katniss's bag from her and threw it over his shoulder, she had unceremoniously stuffed her prom gown in it, a piece of red tulle was caught in the zipper and sticking out by an inch or so.

They both walked silently, as they passed by the street that Cato lives on, Katniss instinctively glanced down it, she didn't see his car parked in the drive, he was probably still out partying and wouldn't be "home till morning.

"So," Peeta said, "What'd Jo do?"

"Nothing," Katniss said, "It's no big deal."

She didn't want to get on the subject and with the thought of distracting him she wrapped her arm around his elbow and gave him a warm smile, "I had a great time tonight."

"Me too," Peeta said, "You know, I wasn't looking forward to Prom at all. I almost didn't go."

Katniss gave him a nudge, "I'm glad you came."

"God, me too," Peeta said with a breathy laugh.

"I still would've asked you to the concert, it would've been in health class though."

Peeta thought back to a few couple of days ago in health class when he would've be thrilled if Katniss had ask him to borrow a pen, never mind asking him he wanted to go out.

"Your Iron Maiden shirt is my favorite of your shirts," Katniss told him playfully, "I remember you wore when I first saw you."

"Y-you remember when you first saw me," He asked, he suddenly felt like he was walking air.

Katniss gave him a small smile, "Yeah… you weren't the only one paying attention ya know."

"But," Peeta took a breath to steady himself, she had been paying attention to him, had she liked him all this time? "But, why? I mean you were with Cato." He spoke his name with disgust and hated himself from even saying his name but he had to know.

Katniss rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "I never really wanted to stay with him. I mean, it started out just because he asked and all the girls acted like it was a huge deal, and then Mother and Seneca met him and liked him, and it's always easier to make them happy... "

"Seneca?"

"Mother's husband," Katniss's expression hardened a little, she hadn't wanted to mention him, "But anyway," she gave her head a shake to clear her thoughts, "That's done and gone now, thank god."

"And your parents? I mean your Mom and Seneca, what will they think?"

Katniss scoffed, "I don't care right now… I mean the deal was that I'd get good grades and not get in trouble again, so they can't really get mad and banish me just because I dumped a loser."

He was processing what she had just said, 'get in trouble again' and 'banish her', he wanted to ask more about it but could tell that she didn't like talking about it. He decided to switch back to the other thing that he particularly was interested in, "So you really were watching me?"

Katniss laughed, "Well, not in the creepy stalker way, but, yeah."

"I can't believe that I didn't notice," Peeta shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, I was a bit more discreet than you were," Katniss said, she had started smiling so wide that her cheeks were hurting, while thinking of all the times she had noticed him looking at her.

He came to a stop suddenly, "This-this is my house."

"Oh," Katniss said, stopping and looking up at the well kept ranch house they were standing in front of.

He looked over at her, he didn't want to take her home, "Um, I can drive you home if you're tired… or do you want to come in and hang out for a bit?"

Katniss smiled at the invitation, "I'd love to."

"Great, I mean, cool… I can take you home whenever you want," Peeta said and put an arm around her, "There's a door to the basement in the back, we can hang out down there so we won't disturb anyone."

He grew nervous on the way around the back of the house, he hoped that his brother wasn't up and watching TV in the basement, it was late but he knew that it would just his luck to have his brother be sitting on the couch, when he brought Katniss in.

The lights were all off, so that was a good sign. Peeta unlocked the door and held it open for Katniss. She walked past him and into his house.

Is this real? Is Katniss really in my house now?

Peeta flipped on the light of the downstairs family room, evidence that his brother had been there earlier was littered on the coffee table, a partially crushed soda can, a crumpled bag of potato chips and a used cereal bowl that still had a bit of milk and cereal bits sitting in it.

"Sorry, my brothers a slob," Peeta said and he rushed throw the trash away and set the cereal bowl on the stairs going up, he turned back to Katniss, who was looking around the room.

"Um, do you want anything to drink?" He asked.

Katniss shook her head and looked at him.

"Um, we can watch a movie or something…" What he really wanted to do was kiss her again but that didn't seem like the appropriate thing to ask.

Katniss looked at him for a moment before turning to the TV, "Sure, how about we see what's on?"

"Oh probably not much," Peeta said sitting down and picking up the remote and turned the TV on, "We don't get the movie channels or anything."

Katniss sat down next to him, right next to him, but not close enough to be touching, he cleared his throat and started scrolling through the guide, he felt stupid, he had made out with her a few times tonight, why should he feel nervous about kissing her again?

Katniss leaned closer to him, he let his arm that was holding the remote drop as she kissed his neck.

He didn't know exactly what sound he made as she kissed her way up his neck to his ear but it sounded like a cross between a sigh and a groan. She gave his earlobe a kiss and then whispered to him, "I don't really want to watch TV."

"Me either," Peeta said and quickly bent his face down to crush his lips to hers. Whatever inhibitions or nerves that he'd had were gone and the two of them quickly picked right up where they had left off in Finnick's living room.

Several minutes later, they were interrupted by the TV suddenly getting louder, Katniss was straddling a shirtless Peeta and had accidentally knelt on the remote, Peeta quickly grabbed the remote and muted the TV, then both sat still, catching their breaths. Katniss's shirt had been removed and her strapless bra was pushed down exposing her breasts that Peeta had been lavishing attention on, and Katniss had just finished unbuckling Peeta's belt when her knee hit the volume button.

"I guess it is getting late… do you want me to take you home?" Peeta asked.

Katniss bit her lower lip and then shook her head, "Do you think I could crash here?"

"God yeah," Peeta breathed, he couldn't believe the way this night was turning out.

"Thanks," Katniss said.

Peeta closed his eyes as Katniss moved off him, he instantly missed the feel of her and let out a small groan but opened his eyes and stood, "My room is just over here." He walked over to the door, while she fixed her bra and retrieved her top, "And the bathroom is right next to it." He opened the bathroom door and let it swing in. He had never been so happy to have the basement bedroom, he couldn't imagine trying to quietly get her upstairs.

"I can get you something to sleep in, if you want," Peeta said.

"That'd be great."

He opened his t-shirt drawer and dug through until he found the top he'd been looking for and then rummaged around looking for the smallest athletic shorts he had and then handed them to her.

"Thanks," She said as she took them, she immediately noticed the shirt and held it up, it was his Iron Maiden shirt that she had mentioned.

He just grinned and said, "I'll go grab a glass of water, do you want something to eat?"

She shook her head no and went into the bathroom.

Katniss couldn't take the grin off her face while she slipped out of her clothes, folding them up in a nice pile, the shorts looked too ridiculous, hanging off her petite frame and going past her knees, so she folded those back up. She used her fingers to comb out her hair as best she could and then rinsed her mouth out with water to get ride of the beer and whiskey aftertaste that was lingering from earlier in the evening. When she opened the door, Peeta was just coming downstairs, he stopped short when he saw her.

He faintly hears her saying that the shorts didn't fit but he does little more than vaguely nod, as he takes in the sight of her wearing nothing but his t-shirt.

She crosses the room and takes the glass of water that he had gotten for her and takes a small sip, "Thanks," She says and turns to head into his room.

"Your welcome," He says several moments later after she's already in his bedroom.

He follows and sees her set her clothes in the chair near the door, she sets the shorts she had folded on top of his dresser and she makes her way to his bed. He can only watch as she crawls under his covers.

Inside his head there is a giddy voice practically chanting, "She is in my bed. She is in my bed."

He steadies himself and get his own pajamas ready before going to the bathroom. He tries to hurry but he feels as if he is all thumbs while trying to undo the toothpaste cap and brush his teeth , so he feels like it's been forever since he last saw her. He silently says a little prayer, that she wouldn't have disappeared in the time he was gone.

He stepped out of the bathroom and went into his room, she was laying on the left side of the bed, the side that he usually favored but like he was going to complain about that! He drained the glass of water on the nightstand and was just turning to go to the bathroom to re-fill it when a voice stopped him.

"Peeta?"

Peeta froze and slowly turned to face his Dad standing in the doorway.

"H-hey, Dad," Peeta said quietly.

His Dad's eyes went from the clothes that Katniss had folded and put on the chair by the door to his bed where Katniss's dark hair was splayed out on the pillow, and then to Peeta with a raised eyebrow, "You have a guest?"

"Well, we.. I.. Yeah, I do," Peeta fumbled with his words.

His Dad motioned for him to step out of his room, which Peeta nervously did.

"And who is it, may I ask?" His Dad didn't know of Peeta being friends with any girl apart from Johanna and he could tell from the length of hair visible that it wasn't her.

About a week or so ago, Peeta had been talking to his Dad about Prom, saying that he was just going to go as a group with Darius and Johanna, his Dad has asked why he didn't ask a date, Peeta confessed that there was a girl that he wished he could ask but couldn't.

"Katniss," Peeta said, unable not to smile a little as he said her name, a part of him couldn't help but be thrilled with the fact that he was telling someone that Katniss was in his bed, but another part of him registered that he was having to tell his _Dad_ that, which dampened the mood a bit.

He hadn't mentioned her name to his Dad at the time, but his Dad must've been able to tell that the girl that Peeta had been talking about, was this girl, the girl that was currently in his bed because his Dad mouth twitched in a knowing smile before returning to the stern fatherly look.

"We didn't - I mean, it's not what it looks like," Peeta said his face turning red.

His Dad fixed him with a stern look for a while, he seemed to be enjoying watching Peeta squirm uncomfortably, before saying, "Just make sure your Mother doesn't see when you take her home in the morning."  
Peeta breathed a sigh of relief and said that he would.

"And Peeta, I expect that this won't happen again."

Peeta nodded, eager for his Dad to leave.

His Dad then gave Peeta's arm a little slap, "Sounds like you've had quite the night."

"Yeah, it has been," Peeta said, he was unable to stop the smile from taking over his face now that he knew his Dad wouldn't make a big deal out of it and make Katniss leave or worse, wake up his Mom to bring her in on the situation.

"Goodnight, son," His Dad said before going back upstairs.

Peeta stepped back into his room and closed the door and turned the lock.

"Well that was awkward," Katniss said, her voice muffled under the blanket.

Peeta let out a shaky laugh, "Yeah."

"I wasn't sure if I should keep faking sleep or if I should get dressed and climb out a window," Katniss said rolling onto her back and sitting up.

"It's fine," Peeta said, "Dad is pretty cool… plus, being the third son, they've seen just about everything already so he's probably a bit more understanding with me than with Jed."

Peeta climbed into his bed and pulled the covers over him and then rolled onto his side to look at Katniss. They just looked at each other for a while before Katniss raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I can't believe that this is real… I feel as if when I wake up you'll be gone."

She scooted closer to him, her bare legs skimming his, he rolled onto his back and she laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around him, "I'll be right here."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, "Good."

Katniss felt her entire body relax into his, she decided then and there that she loved being in his arms like this. Him holding her while they were kissing was great and made her insides go crazy with fluttering but leave.

He stroked her hair for a few moments until her breathing regulated and deepened, Peeta lay awake for a little while after that, he didn't want this night to end but his eyes finally drooped closed while Katniss was still enveloped in his arms.

* * *

When he awoke it took a moment for him to register what had woken him, he had felt a pleasant warmth of pressure on his lips

"Morning," Her quiet voice said next to his ear, followed by another kiss, this time on his neck.

His eyes snapped wide open then and he turned to look at Katniss, who had just awoken him with a kiss

The whole evening came flooding back, and he gave her a smile, "Morning, Katniss."

"I think someone is up," She said looking up at the ceiling where she had heard people walking around.

"It's probably just my Dad," Peeta said stretching then reaching over for his alarm clock and blinking a few times before he could register the time, 6:30. He laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes.

She rested her chin on his shoulder, "I should probably get home."

He opened his eyes and looked at her, "Do you have to?"

"Yeah, I should."

He groaned and closed his eye again and wrapped his arms around her.

Katniss laid her head on his chest, "I know it was only a few hours but that was probably the best I've slept in a long time."

"Let's do it again sometime," He joked.

"You read my mind," Katniss said and twisted her head slightly to give his chest a kiss.

"Wh- really?" He asked, suddenly feeling wide awake, "I was kidding."

Katniss lifted her head off his chest and looked at him her eyes open wide in a look that she was trying to pass off as innocence but there was still a little bit of sauciness visible, "You mean you wouldn't want me sneaking in here in the middle of the night?"

Peeta laughed, "God I'd love that… I just can't believe that you'd want to."

Katniss gave him a small wink and then sat up, "Alright, you do need to take me home now."

"Can't you just spend the day here with me?"

"Don't you think your Dad's going to check in?"

Peeta shrugged and tried to pull her back down to lay next to him, she felt too good, too warm and soft, to willingly let her leave the bed, "I don't care."

"Well I want to get home to shower and eat."

"I can grab you something to eat upstairs, and by all means, I would love for you to use my shower." The thought of her naked and wet in his bathroom affected his whole body.

"Come on," Katniss said rolling her eyes as she crawled out of his bed. She walked over to her clothes and with her back to Peeta she pulled the t-shirt off and tossed it on the chair.

Peeta sat straight up in bed, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open as he watched her pull her jeans on and saw her back muscles and shoulder blades contract as she reached her arms back to fasten her bra, she didn't turn to face him until she slipped her top back on.

"Aren't you getting up?" She asked, the look in her eye positively mischievous.

Peeta closed his eyes for a moment, trying to commit the sight of her practically naked form to memory, and then shook his head in disbelief, she was purposefully messing with him, teasing him.

"You're a tease," Peeta said looking at her.

She just smiled and looked satisfied with herself, she walked to the side of the bed, and leaned closer, "Oh come on, would you really have preferred me to change in the bathroom."

He took hold of her waist, she let out a shriek as he pulled her back on to the bed and rolled over so he was on top of her and quickly covered her mouth with his, the image of her near-naked body, her bare back, the brief glimpse of the side of her breasts and the lace of her panties up against her skin, was still swimming in his head, and he put all the passion that sight had created in him into the kiss.

When they finally did leave Peeta's room, sneaking around the side of the house proved pointless as, much to Peeta's embarrassment, his Dad appeared to be have chosen seven in the morning as the perfect time to start cleaning out the garage.

There was an awkward introduction where his Dad shook Katniss's hand and then made a lame joke about cobwebs in the garage taking on a life of their own.

"Dad," Peeta said, then gave him a look that was pleading him not to talk any more.

"Alright, well, it was nice to meet you, Katniss."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Mellark," Katniss said nervously.

"And Peeta I expect you to hurry back and help me."

"Dad!" Peeta groaned.

Mr. Mellark had already turned back to his sweeping.

Peeta opened the passenger door of his gray Accord and held it open while Katniss slid in. After he closed the door he looked back over at his Dad who was looking back at him, he gave him a pointed look and Peeta knew that his Dad was going to attempt a father/son 'talk' while they were cleaning the garage.

Katniss gave a little chuckle when Peeta slumped behind the wheel, "He seems nice."

Peeta looked over at her and said sarcastically, "Yeah, he's great."

Peeta didn't ask for directions to her house, Katniss glanced over at him with amusement as he drove straight there.

He didn't even realize what he had done until he pulled into her driveway, "Uh, um… This is it right?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Yes… do you also know which one is my window?"

"No… no, I just," He took a breath, he was embarrassed as he admitted, "I did look up your address once… I promise I don't do creeper drive-bys or anything."

Katniss leaned over the armrest and gave him a kiss, "For future reference mine are the two windows on the right."

She unbuckled her seat belt, "I'll see you later."

Peeta was still flustered about her finding out that he not only knew her address but was able to navigate through the neighborhood and right to her front door with ease, she was already out of the car before he was completely aware of it. He quickly hopped out of the car, "Katniss?"

She turned.

"Can I have your number?"

She bit her lower lip and laughed, "I guess we did kind of skip over that part, huh?" He started fumbling around for his phone to enter her number but couldn't find it. "How about if you give me your number?" She asked quickly pulling out her cell from her bag, she hit to ignore all the missed calls and texts as she typed in his number and then typed up a short text.

"See you at school," She said as Peeta heard his phone alerting him of a new text.

"Yeah, see you at school," He said watching her go.

She turned one more time, "And don't forget the concert Friday."

When she disappeared into her house he got back into his car and found his phone on the floor between the front seats, he opened the new text, she had written, 'you're a good kisser'.

He felt his insides doing the conga and he knew that he'd never erase that text, he quickly entered in Katniss's name to that number and looked at the text one more time now that it had her name above the message. His smile got even bigger and he didn't even care that he had to go back and have an awkward talk with his Dad while cleaning the garage, because everything that happened last night was real.

She really did like him.

* * *

**Thanks for reading**


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